Elevator To Nowhere

Links

So I've been mucking about online as per usual, and wish to share what I've found.

Firstly, look at this freaking site. Idee labs has come up with a really interesting program that allows you to search flickr based on the colors in the photos, and creates weird little collages with different colors represented. Look at this one I did:

Very very cool, right? This one's in the auxiliary colors from my comic actually.

Also: if you're interested at all in the art of making comics, there's a blog I've been reading called Comic Tools which is insanely useful. It's all about the craft of comics, the author goes into great detail about how he creates, and analyzes the styles of other artists. He also talks about panels, speech balloons, and lettering, not just the art. It's a great blog for inking techniques as well, so even if you don't draw comics it's pretty useful.

Finally, a comic book meme that I picked up from an amazing artist's LJ. Her name is bonjournasty and her art style is the one I want to have. Seriously- if I can refine my style to the point where I'm happy with it, my drawings will look a lot like hers. Anyway, meme!

What gets your juices flowing?Other people's comics, especially Jeffrey Brown. Music. Having an interesting/ fun/ somehow out of the ordinary day. People caring about what I'm doing (basically I would've given up the journal comic thing ages ago if my friends didn't seem interested)

PART TWO: COMICS CONSUMERWhat kind of comics do you like to read?I like journal/ autobio comics a lot, they're terribly interesting. Indie comics, realistic fiction, and zine-esque comics are my faves, but I also like a lot of superhero comics. I'm pretty interested in Xmen, Spider Man (although not so much after that horribly stupid retcon where Mary Jane never existed), and Hellblazer. And I also like a lot of 80's punky comics, like Love and Rockets and Tank Girl. I'm a huge fan of some webcomics as well, when they are good they can be really good.

What kind of comics do you dislike?A lot of webcomics, especially gag-a-day ones. They seem kind of derivative to me. I'm not a fan of most DC superhero comics, for whatever reason, and I usually don't read fantasy unless it has a lot of realistic elements or is some kind of magical realism. I'm not very into manga, although I used to be and I still like some. Uh....romance comics are not for me, and neither are hard sci-fi comics. And my number one pet peeve is comics that rely solely on art and have shitty stories.

When were you first introduced to comics?I used to read Archie comics as a kid, and then I got into manga when I was in middle school and early high school. And then when I was 14 my dad lent me V for Vendetta and Watchmen over the summer, and I read them each about 10 times in a row, and that's when American comics started becoming a thing for me.Around the same time my sister and I got really into this animated TV show called X-Men Evolution, and I started checking out mainstream superhero books. So it was really kind of a confluence of stuff.

What were some of your first comics?Archie, Ducktales, this limited run of Xmen Evolution comics, and the aforementioned Alan Moore comics.

When did you first get "The spark"?I started wanting to draw mangas when I was in middle school, and then summarily abandoned that idea until I was like 16, whereupon I read a book of interviews with comic writers, and realized you could create comics without drawing them. So that was when I started wanting to write comics, and then I started drawing them when I realized that it was really hard to find an artist who was willing to draw my stuff without changing it too much.

What is your favourite animated movie?Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, The Triplets of Belleville, the Wallace and Gromit shorts, The Lion King, Anastasia

What is your favourite anime series?I actually never watched much anime. I liked mangas a lot better, and I still like Ranma 1/2, Lone Wolf and Cub, and Blade of the Immortal. I'm trying to get back into manga a bit, but it's difficult to find series that I really like.

PART THREE: COMICS CREATORWhat kind of comics do you make?Journal comics. I write a lot of slice-of-life/ realistic fiction comics, although they're only scripts because I don't think I can draw them as well as I want. Right now I'm writing a script about a girl getting up the courage to ask a boy out. I want to try more action oriented scripts in the future, though.

When did you first start making comics?I actually still have the first comic I've ever made, which is a really awesomely bad rendition of a story my sister and I were writing about Star Wars and Pokemon. Not kidding. I did it when I was like 11.

What are your favorite comic artists right now (and who do you admire?)Bryan Lee O'Malley, John Allison, Jaime Hernandez, Jamie Hewlett, Jeffrey Brown, Riccardo Burchielli, Magnolia Porter, K.C. Green, Pranas T. Naujokaitis, Der-shing Helmer, Sylvan Migdal...there are so many more artists that I enjoy, I know I'm missing a bunch.